Polish Dilemma: Fugitive Criminal or Political Refugee?
It puts the former Polish ruling party in an uncomfortable position that its former deputy justice minister is hiding from the justice system in territories outside the reach of the law. The operation is becoming increasingly difficult to explain using the original narrative of political persecution.
New information has emerged about the possible whereabouts of Marcin Romanowski, former deputy justice minister and a member of Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party, who is the subject of a European Arrest Warrant over suspicions of serious corruption-related offences.
According to RMF FM, a submission was received by the Warsaw District Court in Romanowski’s name, with Tiraspol, the capital of the internationally unrecognised Transnistrian region of Moldova, listed as the place of dispatch. Newsmaker.md report The submission reportedly requests a so-called list żelazny (a legal safe-conduct), which would allow Romanowski to defend himself while remaining at liberty in the Justice Fund case.
The report cannot, however, currently be treated as evidence that Romanowski is actually in Tiraspol. His lawyer, Bartosz Lewandowski, said that he neither prepared nor submitted the application to the court and had not seen it. According to media reports, the document was submitted with a handwritten signature.
Polish authorities issued a European Arrest Warrant for Romanowski in February 2026. On 10 July, a Warsaw court rejected the defence’s request to withdraw it. The politician is suspected of 19 offences in connection with the use of the Justice Fund, including participation in an organised criminal group and misuse of public funds; Romanowski denies all the allegations. WP report on the case
Romanowski previously stayed in Hungary, where the Orbán government granted him international protection. After the change of government in Hungary, he left the country. In June, his defence claimed that he might be in Serbia, which is not an EU member and therefore does not directly enforce European Arrest Warrants.
The letter apparently sent from Tiraspol therefore raises another possible location, but so far does not prove that Romanowski is actually in Transnistria. Nor is it clear whether the document genuinely originated from him.
If the information is subsequently confirmed, it could have political implications, as Transnistria is an internationally unrecognised territory dependent on Russian military and political support. Analysts have therefore already suggested that such a location could create a serious reputational problem for PiS. Romanowski has sought to portray himself as a victim of political persecution. If, however, it turns out that he is actually hiding in a separatist territory with an unresolved legal status, both he and his party may find it difficult to lecture others on respect for the rule of law.
The situation is somewhat simpler for the politician’s former superior, Zbigniew Ziobro, PiS’s former justice minister. Ziobro left Hungary, which had also provided him with protection under the Orbán government, on 9 May 2026 and travelled to the United States, a move he later confirmed himself. Reuters report The Polish prosecution service subsequently asked US authorities for information about the documents he used to enter the country.
The case is being watched with interest not only by the Polish and Hungarian authorities, but also by the Hungarian public, with one eye already on the asset-recovery investigations promised by the Tisza government and the possible involvement of individuals connected to the case.
